Lionel D

Lionel D, real name Lionel Eguienta, is a French rapper born December 13, 1961 in Paris and died February 25, 2020 in London. He is one of the pioneers of the hip-hop movement and more particularly rap in France, notably through the show Deenastyle which he hosted with Dee Nasty in the 1980s on Radio Nova.

Born on December 13, 1961 in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, to a mother from Auvergne and a father from Martinique, he grew up in Vitry-sur-Seine. He became known during the 1980s under the name Lionel D through various radio shows such as the one hosted by Dee Nasty and Bad Benny on RDH radio. In 1982, Lionel D was inducted into the Zulu Nation by Afrika Bambaataa with Princess Erika and Dee Nasty at the Bataclan. Lionel D joined the radio team named Platinum Squad by Dee Nasty in 1984 during the emergence of free radio stations in France in 1981. Alongside radio, he formed the group Fresh MC Four with other pioneering rappers in Vitry-sur-Seine like JND, General Murphy and Frisco. In 1986, he participated in Dee Nasty’s hip-hop events called “free jams” organized on the vacant lot of La Chapelle. From 1988, he hosted “Deenastyle” on Radio Nova with Dee Nasty; at the time it was the reference show which received the majority of Parisian rappers from 10 p.m. to midnight — every Sunday evening for two years from 1988 to 1989. Thanks to his show on Nova, Lionel D made it possible to discover on the airwaves the group NTM, Assassin, MC Solaar, Ministry A.M.E.R…

Lionel D made a model in the Nova studios, and released his first records in 1990: the maxis “Y’a Pas De Problem” then “Pour Toi Le Beur”, then he published his first album the same year entitled “Y’ “No Problem”. In 1991, he published his last official album, “Il Y’a Des Gens”. His last recording appearance was a collaboration with the group Mad in Paris on the album “Mad In Paris” in 1996. He participated among others in the shows “L’Œil Du Cyclone” on Canal+, in “RapLine” by Olivier Cachin on M6, “Saga-Cités” by Bernard Loche on France 3… His appearances became more and more sporadic until he almost disappeared around the mid-1990s.

In 2011, several magazines and webzines claimed that he died in 2010 in media anonymity. At the end of August 2016, International Hip Hop Magazine (IHH) published an exclusive interview with Lionel D which denies the rumor. Lionel D declares that he “has never given an interview to anyone for more than twenty years”. On February 25, 2020, Lionel D died in a hospital in London following a cardiac arrest. Following the actions of his entourage but also of the French Minister of Culture Franck Riester and the mayor of Vitry-sur-Seine Jean-Claude Kennedy, his body was repatriated to be buried in Vitry-sur-Seine in the new cemetery on the 12th. March 2020, in the presence of numerous hip-hop and rap personalities. In March 2020, the rap show Grünt on Radio Nova broadcast a program entitled Hommage à Lionel D.